The Wedding Epiphany
by haley1508
Summary: With Howard and Bernadette's wedding arriving and Priya in India, Penny has the perfect chance to reveal her feelings to Leonard. How will he react and will he be able to deny his feelings any longer?   It's better than the lame summary, I promise


**The Wedding Epiphany**

**I haven't written anything in ages, but this idea randomly popped into my head when thinking about how they were going to go about Howard and Bernadette's wedding. I wrote it pretty quickly so I'm sorry if it's not perfect, or there are some errors. It's far from the best thing I could write but I just wanted to get it out there… but anyways, ENJOY!**

**I do not own any of the characters or anything else…**

"Cheers, to our last girl's night out as 3 single women!" Penny said as she raised her glass to Amy and Bernadette. "I can't believe you're getting married on Saturday! It's pretty depressing that Howard Wolowitz is getting married before me, but Congratulations!"

"How does it feel to be tied down to one man for the rest of your life, never able to sleep with anyone else again?" Amy chimed in.

"Amy!" Penny snapped, "What are you doing?"

"In movies, I've always seen the bride realize that fact on her own and it never ends well. I'm simply helping Bernadette out, preparing her for any future feelings that may be bestowed upon her."

"I've realized that, thanks Amy." Bernadette said, "I'm not worried about it at all, though. I know Howard is the only one I want to be with for the rest of my life and there's nobody else that could make me happier. Who would've thought that someone as nerdy as Howard could make me so happy?"

"I know exactly what you mean," Penny sighed.

"Aw, I'm sorry Penn. Hey, are you sure you don't want us to un-invite Nick? Now that Priya can't come back from India, Leonard will be alone and what better time than a wedding to tell him how you feel?"

"No, it's okay, thanks Bernadette. I'm not going to get in the way of a couple. Besides, I've been staring at those two with jealousy for six months, I think one night of making Leonard jealous may be just what I need," Penny laughed. "No, but Leonard would never leave Priya for me, so I may as well give Nick a chance instead of waiting around."

"All right, well I know you two belong together and this is your chance to make that happen. Just think about what you want, not what will make others happy," Bernadette said as Amy nodded along.

Penny knew what she wanted, but what she wanted was taken by somebody halfway across the world.

Saturday came and everybody was excited for the wedding. Just as Leonard and Sheldon were leaving the apartment in their tuxes making their way over to the church, a tall, blonde man in a suit came up the stairs.

"Hi, are you looking for someone?" Leonard asked, intimidated by this man's good looks.

"Yeah, I'm here to pick up Penny." _Shoot, this is Penny's date. Damn is he attractive, _Leonard thought.

"You must be Nick. I'm Leonard and this is Sheldon, we live across the hall."

"Hey little guy, look I'm here for Penny so I guess I'll be seeing you later tonight" Nick said as he passed the guys to Penny's apartment.

"So, Leonard," Sheldon began as they headed down the stairs, "how does it feel knowing Penny's going to be spending the night with a man that looks like that while you'll be spending it alone?"

"I'm not alone, Sheldon, Priya just couldn't make it."

"Leonard, the only way your relationship with Priya is still lasting is through your relationship status on Facebook."

"Excuse me, Sheldon that is not true! Anyways, Penny can spend the night with whoever she wants. Nick's not the right guy for her; he'll only be around for tonight until she realizes that she deserves better."

"Leonard," Sheldon interrupted, "I won't be listening once you get all emotional so you may as well save your energy." Leonard rolled his eyes as they walked out the front door.

When Leonard first saw Penny in her bridesmaid's dress, his heart skipped a beat_. God, was she beautiful. _They simultaneously smiled at each other as they met in the middle of the aisle to walk up to the altar.

"Penny, you look beautiful," he whispered as she took his arm.

"Thanks, you're not too bad yourself," she replied, not able to hide the smile on her face. Throughout the ceremony, Leonard found himself unable to take his eyes off of Penny. Every once in a while she would look at him and smile, causing him to look down and blush. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think about Priya without his mind drifting back to Penny.

"You may kiss the bride!" The cheers of Howard and Bernadette's family and friends snapped Leonard back to reality as Howard wrapped his arms around Bernadette for a kiss.

At the reception, Leonard walked in and saw Penny sitting alone at her table. When she looked up and gave him that smile of hers, he had no other option but to check up on her.

"Hey," he said as he took the seat next to her, "you having a good time?"

"Yeah," she replied, "I just needed a little rest."

"Well where's Nick?"

"Oh, he went off with Bernadette's cousin somewhere. Tall and tan, let me tell you, you would never guess they were related."

"I'm sorry Penn, that sucks," Leonard said as he stroked her arm.

"Eh, it was our first date. When he asked me what my bra size was, I knew it was over."

"Yeah, that's a red flag right there," he said as they both chuckled. After a few seconds of looking at Howard and Bernadette dancing, Penny turned to Leonard.

"Can you believe we made this happen? We're the reason we're all here today."

Leonard looked up at the newlyweds as they danced; only paying attention to each other. "Well, we are good. I never would have guessed from that first date that they'd be getting married."

As they looked at each other, they both started laughing. "Oh my word, that night was a disaster," Penny said.

"It was torture having to listen to Howard try to impress Bernadette," Leonard continued, "I remember the only thing getting me through the night was knowing I'd be with you at the end of it." Penny immediately looked at Leonard, not expecting those words to come out of his mouth. After a few minutes of silence, Leonard turned to Penny. "Hey, would you maybe want to dance?"

"I don't know Leonard, is Priya going to be okay with that?"

"There's no reason why she shouldn't be, and if she has a problem with it, there's nothing she can do about it in India. Come on, Penny, just one song."

One song turned into two songs, two turned into three. Eventually, they'd lost track of how many songs they'd danced to and just stayed where they were, Leonard tightly curling his arms around Penny while she rested her head into the crook of his neck. _This was right_, Leonard thought. All of his previous feelings for Penny had resurfaced, proving that they'd never gone away. As they continued swaying back and forth, Penny had completely lost herself. She had missed these arms that never let her go and missed the way her head fit perfectly into the crook of his neck. She hadn't realized how much she missed him until what she couldn't have was right in front of her.

"Leonard?" She started, lifting her head up to look him in the eyes.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything I've put you through. It wasn't fair to you and I wish I'd never hurt you in any way. The thing I'm most sorry for though, is letting you go. "

"Penny-"

"No, Leonard, every day I regret leaving you and I guess I wasn't aware of how strong my feelings were until I lost the chance to show them. I've been so confused about how I feel but I think I was afraid to face the truth. I love you, Leonard. I am absolutely in love wi-"

Before she could finish, Leonard interrupted by pressing his lips up against hers. While she was taken aback, she quickly reciprocated, pulling him as close to her as she possibly could. The two began to get caught up in the kiss until Leonard pulled back.

"Penny, you have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that, but I have a girlfriend. Look, this just isn't right. I'm sorry, I have to go." And before she could say a word, Leonard was gone.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Bernadette asked, coming up beside Penny. "What just happened?"

"I don't know, but I should probably go. I'm so happy for you Bernadette, congratulations, this was beautiful today." Bernadette took Penny in for a hug, realizing how hurt her friend was. "Thanks for coming, if you need anything, I'm right here."

"Thanks, I'll see you later. I love you. Congratulations, again," Penny said one last time before she walked out the door.

When Penny woke up, she found it very difficult to get out of bed. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened last night, but was embarrassed for pouring her heart out like she did only for it to be rejected. As she tied her robe and got her coffee, she walked over to the couch and sat down when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," she said, not motivated enough to open it herself.

"Hey," Leonard said upon entering. She gave him a slight smile and looked back down at her coffee.

"Look, Penny, I really need to talk to you."

"Okay," she answered meekly, still unable to forgive him.

"I'm so sorry about last night. Even though we broke up, my feelings for you never went away. I thought that getting in a relationship with Priya would take my mind off of you, which it did. You were the only girl I wanted to be with, but when I got tired of waiting, I thought I'd give my relationship with Priya a shot. Priya and I actually had something pretty good going on, and I thought that I was finally able to get over you."

"I get it Leonard, I don't want to get in the way of your relationship and I never should have told you how-"

"It's over, Penny." She stood up off the couch, looking up at him and he took a step closer towards her.

"What?"

"Priya and I are done. I thought that Priya had everything going for her, but when we kissed last night, I realized one thing that I'd forgotten."

"And what's that?" Penny asked as Leonard took another step forward.

"She isn't you. She's not you, Penny, and nobody ever will be. I don't care how long we try to deny it, you and I are meant to be together and even though it took a while, I finally realized that you're the only one I can ever see myself with." After looking into his eyes and taking in everything he'd said, Penny wrapped her arms around his neck and he cupped her jaw in his hands as their lips met. This was right, and even though it'd taken them five years to figure it out, they were meant to be together.

Quickly pulling back, Penny looked into Leonard's eyes. "I love you, Leonard."

"I know." Recognizing the Star Wars reference, Penny couldn't help but laugh.

"Shut up," she said lightly as she pressed her lips back up against his. Here she was with Leonard. A place she would have never thought she'd be a week ago but a place she never wanted to leave. Leonard was hers now and despite the long road of pain and jealously they both had to go through, they were together now and it couldn't feel better.


End file.
